Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for establishing a bi-directional communication link between devices, and more particularly to establishing a communication link between implantable medical devices and external instruments based on an advertisement schedule.
An implantable medical device (IMD) is a medical device that is configured to be implanted within a patient anatomy and commonly employ one or more leads with electrodes that either receive or deliver voltage, current or other electromagnetic pulses from or to an organ or tissue for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. In general, IMDs include a battery, electronic circuitry, such as a pulse generator and/or a microprocessor that is configured to handle RF communication with an external instrument as well as control patient therapy. The components of the IMD are hermetically sealed within a metal housing (generally referred to as the can).
IMDs are programmed by and transmit data to external instruments controlled by physicians and/or the patient. The external instruments use commercial operating systems (e.g., iOS, Android) that communicate by forming wireless bi-directional communication links with the IMDs. The bi-direction communication link is formed based on advertisement notices received by the external instruments broadcasted by the IMD at a predetermined frequency. The predetermined frequency is based on the wireless protocol. However, the current drain expended by the IMD to broadcast the advertisement notices can be too high where small size is of utmost importance. To conserve current drain, the advertising notices may be output at a lower frequency than defined by the wireless protocol. That is, the period between advertisement notices may be on the order of minutes instead of seconds or milliseconds.
However, the external instruments have built in constraints related to how long the external instrument will monitor for advertising notices for usability and power consumption purposes. If the advertisement notice is not received by the external instrument within the monitoring period the external instrument may repeatedly monitor for advertising notices during the monitoring period at decreasing intervals until the advertisement notice is received. Due to the lower frequency of the advertising notices transmitted by the IMD, if the external instrument misses an advertising pulse, minutes may pass by before the external instrument has an opportunity to receive an advertisement notice during the monitoring period. The number of unsuccessful monitoring periods occurring between advertisement notices drain the power source, such as the battery, of the external instrument. A need exists for improved methods and systems to establish a communication link between the external instrument and an IMD having a modified advertisement notice broadcast frequency.